Part 6 (2/2)

'Suit temperature,' continued Barclay.

With a quick motion, Ben bent down, grabbed the barrel of the carbine, and swung it behind him. Quick as his action had been, it had not escaped the attention of the Cyberleader. He wheeled round and advanced on the three time travellers.

For a moment Ben considered swinging the gun round, and letting fly-but Polly and the Doctor, who were standing beside him, might get hurt in the fight. He decided to wait for another opening.

The Cyberleader, looking taller and even more terrifying at close range, halted in front of him.

'You do not seem to take us seriously.' He held out his hand. 'Give me that gun.'

Ben hesitated for a moment but, with the huge bulk of the Cyberman looming over him, he had no option. He meekly brought the gun round and handed it over. The Cyberman gazed at it for a second and, without any apparent effort, flexed both his arms.

The Doctor's companions watched in horrified amazement as he splintered and broke away the wooden stock, bending the barrel-as easily as if it had been wire-into a right angle.

'When will you humans learn? Your weapons are useless against us! ' The Cyberman flung the gun aside, then turned to the remaining Cybermen. 'Take him away.'

'Oh no ! ' Polly screamed, holding on to Ben's arm. But Ben shook her off. 'If he wanted to kill me, d.u.c.h.ess, he'd do so-just like that.'

'Yes.' The Cyberleader echoed his words. 'It is quite useless to resist us. We are stronger and more efficient than you earth people. We must be obeyed.'

Polly and the Doctor watched as the Cyberman lead Ben from the room.

7 Battle in the Projection Room

The Cyberman, holding Ben's wrists in a vice-like grip, half pulled and half dragged him along the corridors.

The Cyberman halted at a door at the end of the corridor. He checked that its lock contained a key, turned it, and flung the door open. With a swing of his arm, he threw Ben into the room, and slammed the door shut.

Rubbing his wrists, which were bruised and numb from the crus.h.i.+ng grip of the silver giant, Ben rose from the floor and tried the door handle. Locked.

He flung his shoulder against it-and added another bruise to his collection.

Rubbing his shoulder, he looked around curiously. Where had they put him?

One glance identified his location. When he had been flung through the door, he had collided with a film projector mounted on a tall metal stand. To its left stood a bench; above it, a rack of film cans.

The camera projected through a gla.s.s panel at the end of the room. Ben rushed eagerly over and peered through-but the base cinema beyond was in darkness. There was no other way out.

The two astronauts, now haggard and sweating, strained to hear Barclay's voice through the heavy static. The beam of light from the windows now swung slowly across their chests. It had almost stabilised.

'You begin exactly eighty seconds from now. Are you ready to go?'

Williams glanced across at Schultz, who nodded.

'Yes, we're ready.' Williams spoke as loudly, and with as much strength as he could muster into the microphone.

'Our readings show that you need forward correction of seven degrees.'

Williams glanced down at an instrument. 'That checks. We will correct with alt.i.tude controls.' He nodded to Schultz : 'Go ahead, Dan.'

Schultz reached for the joystick controls, forcing his muscles to work with a great effort. He manoeuvred the controls carefully, checking the instrument panels as he did so.

Then he pressed the retro-rocket switch for a brief second.

Both men heard with relief the hissing roar of the rocket motors from outside the capsule. Schultz leaned forward excitedly, examined the dial reading, and gave the thumbs up sign to Williams.

'h.e.l.lo, Snowcap Snowcap,' Schultz cried. 'We have reorientated the capsule. Alt.i.tude now correct.'

Barclay's voice rasped over the loudspeaker. 'Retro rockets to go in twenty seconds. After I give you the word, you come in on your own. Right?'

Williams nodded. 'Will do.'

The decision had not been an easy one. It meant that the two astronauts would have to fly their capsule manually without any help from the base computer. The important thing now was to slow the capsule down from its...o...b..ting speed to re-entry velocity. A slow enough speed to enable them to land safely, drawn down by the Earth's gravity.

But was there enough power to 'brake' the capsule? Again, Schultz's hand moved towards the switch labelled RETRO.

Barclay was counting down. 'Seven, six, five, four, three, two, one-fire ! '

Schultz pressed the switch. There was an immediate low-pitched thundering as the powerful retro rockets fired.

The two astronauts were slammed back in their seats, their faces flattening in the characteristic stretching of a person subject to heavy negative G-forces. The whole capsule was being vibrated. The teeth of the two astronauts were chattering from the heavy shaking.

The roaring went on for seven long seconds, then, abruptly, shut off. The faces of the two men contracted back to normal and they shook their heads in relief.

'Check the velocity, Dan,' Williams said. 'I'll do the ground check.'

Schultz nodded, rubbed his brow slightly as if to clear his vision, and peered forward at the instruments. His expression suddenly changed as he read the speed indicator dials. 'We're not down to re-entry velocity!'

'What!' Williams leant over to check Schultz's reading.

'No doubt about it. We're still at fourteen five. We should be down to eleven two!'

'Quick,' said Williams. 'We'll have to use the retros again.'

'Right.' Schultz reached for the switch, studying the instruments. He glanced over at Williams. 'How long for, Glyn?'

Williams, who was manipulating one of the small on-board computers, pointed his finger as the answer clicked up on a dial: '4.2 seconds.'

Schultz adjusted a control in front of him.

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